Chapter 501 The curtain falls? The calm before the storm! (Two in one)

The gunshots rang out in the noisy streets, and then Shanks's slash passed through the air.

Hodi Jones had just pulled the trigger in his hand, and when he saw that Princess Otohime, whom he wanted to assassinate, was rescued, his breathing stagnated immediately, and he looked at Shanks who was protecting Princess Otohime with disbelief.

His eyes met with Shanks's from a distance, and with just one glance, Hodi Jones's skin suddenly tightened and his scalp numbed.

It was not until this time that Hodi Jones realized that something was wrong, but it was too late.

Shanks' slash came in an instant, and in just a blink of an eye, there was no other thing in Hodi Jones' pupils, which were filled with black slashes.

He didn't even have time to react, and the slash hit Hodi Jones' chest directly.

"."

Blood spurted out from his chest, and at this time, Hodi Jones's mind was blank, and his body fell backwards uncontrollably.

"Bang!"

The solid and huge body fell to the ground.

Hody Jones could not feel the pain from his body, he just felt that his body was getting colder and colder, and his mind was getting more and more dizzy.

"Red-haired Shanks"

"Why did that man appear next to Otohime?"

"I haven't even taken the poison yet, how can I fail like this..."

His breathing was stagnant, and Hody Jones stared with his eyes wide open. Until his death, he naively believed that his plan was perfect and could not accept his failure.

Even if his partner disappeared without a trace, Hody Jones never thought that he would fail.

Never thought that one day he would be killed by humans so easily.

Obviously, Hody Jones had never left Fishman Island, and had a pride that others could not imagine, and never took all humans seriously.

On the high platform in the meeting hall, Shanks's observation Haki had already sensed that Hody Jones had died. He calmly put away his long sword, then turned around and greeted Princess Otohime gently:

"Princess Otohime, are you okay?"

"The assassin has been dealt with, you don't have to worry."

This change started quickly and ended very quickly. Until now, Princess Otohime still had some understanding of the situation.

She had originally leaned forward slightly when she heard the gunshot, and now she heard Shanks' calm and gentle words, and she also raised her head and recognized the young man who was protecting her.

"Mr. Shanks!"

"Why are you here? That gunshot just now, could it be..."

Princess Otohime's heart was really too big. Until now, she still had some confusion about the situation, but the Ryugu Castle guards who protected her safety were not so naive and stupid.

The guards saw that Princess Otohime was fine, and at the same time saw Shanks swinging his sword towards a place in the distance, and immediately guessed what happened. At this moment, someone had already gone to check.

This was an assassination attempt on Princess Otohime, but it happened to be caught and stopped by the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

The Ryugu Castle guards who realized this immediately became nervous. While sending a large number of people to search for the murderer, a large number of guards also surrounded Otohime and Shanks tightly, forming an "iron bucket formation".

"I don't know the specific situation very well, it should be an assassination against you."

"The murderer has been dealt with by me, and your guards have also gone to search, and there will be results soon."

"Princess Otohime, it's not safe here, you should return to Ryugu Castle as soon as possible."

"Some things don't have to be done by you, the princess."

Shanks glanced at Hody Jones's sniper point and persuaded Princess Otohime. After that, Shanks didn't mean to stay any longer and walked towards the stage.

The guards around looked at Shanks with gratitude and awe. Seeing that Shanks was about to leave, they automatically cleared a path for Shanks.

Under the gaze of the fishmen, Shanks reunited with his crew, and then the group disappeared into the crowd.

Shanks' appearance was completely coincidental. They were visiting the local scenery on Fishman Island, and when they saw the crowd gathering here, they wanted to see what happened.

Unexpectedly, it was Princess Otohime's speech that caused the crowd to gather.

Well. I have to say that Princess Otohime is an idealist.

The Fishman Island version of "I Have a Dream" is indeed somewhat inspiring. This speech made the people of the Red Hair Pirates stop and watch.

Otohime was able to survive the assassination of Hodi Jones, which was really a lot of luck.

"Princess Wang"

"Someone did want to assassinate you, and the murderer was found! His gun has new traces of shooting."

"The murderer. The murderer is Captain Hodi Jones!!!"

Minister Kaiba, who went to search for the murderer, hurried back not long after Shanks and others left, and when he came back, he also brought a shocking news.

The murderer is Captain Hodi Jones, the captain of the Dragon Palace Guard, Hodi Jones? !

When Otohime heard this, her face changed, she held her mouth with both hands, her eyes full of astonishment and disbelief.

But soon, Minister Kaiba put this bloody reality in front of Princess Otohime.

Hodi Jones's body was brought up, and on his chest, there was a horrible knife wound that crossed the front of his chest and penetrated into his abdomen. The body was still "fresh", and blood kept flowing out of the wound. The strong smell of blood soon spread.

The murder weapon used in the assassination was also successfully recovered. Minister Kaiba held the gun in his palm and handed it to Princess Otohime.

But Princess Otohime had no intention of picking her up.

No need to check. There is still a strong smell of gunpowder smoke in the barrel of the gun in Minister Kaiba's hand.

The chaos that occurred on the main island of Fishman Island was not very long. Even the guards of Dragon Palace City have not fought head-on with the enemy for a long time. The firearms of most of the guards will not smell of gunpowder smoke.

It is precisely because the guards rarely fired that the evidence of Hody Jones's murder weapon could remain for a long time after the shooting.

"Why, why would he do this?!"

Princess Otohime had no doubts, looking at the body of Hody Jones not far away, and murmured.

She couldn't understand why the captain of the Dragon Palace City Guard whom she had single-handedly promoted would want to harm her. Princess Otohime didn't know what she had done wrong.

But in this world, people don’t only do wrong things to be hated and assassinated.

Blocking other people's way also risks being killed.

Obviously, Princess Otohime is the woman who blocks his way to Huo Di Jones.

What happened inside Dragon Palace City was naturally investigated by Dragon Palace City itself.

These things have nothing to do with the nosy Shanks.

At this time, he was holding Uta's little hand, and accompanied by a group of crew members, left the noisy Geelong Code Square.

As Uta gets older, he becomes more sensible and has his own thoughts on what he sees and hears.

However, she had never seen anything like the assassination of a royal family. She couldn't figure out why she shook Shanks' arm gently and asked abruptly:

"Shanks, Princess Otohime is a good person, right?"

Her first question actually stumped Shanks.

Is Princess Otohime a good person? He and the other party had only met each other a few times, so there was no understanding, if anything.

"Princess Otohime, that's right."

"He is deeply loved by the people and is gentle and friendly when he comes into contact with us."

"A good man, I suppose, yes."

Shanks did not give a simple answer, but mentioned some of Princess Otohime's advantages to support his point of view.

While answering Uta, Shanks was also answering himself.

"Then why would anyone want to kill Princess Otohime?"

"Why would anyone want to kill a good man who is deeply loved by the country?"

Uta said, raising his head and looking at Shanks beside him, with a frown on his face, thinking hard about this matter.

"Why did you kill Otohime?"

"Maybe it's because of jealousy? Hatred of the rich? Can't stand it? Or hatred?"

"Who knows?"

"Uta, this world is very big. There are people with all kinds of personalities, and all kinds of complicated interpersonal relationships exist."

"You don't have to think deeply about everyone's behavior and why they do it."

"For us, this is just more trouble."

"We are pirates, and the grudges and grudges of those people have nothing to do with us."

"We just need to be ourselves, live happily, and live freely."

Shanks had no interest in exploring Princess Otohime's past, and he didn't care who the murderer was.

He would take action to protect Princess Otohime, which is not a chivalrous act.

It's just because Otohime is Neptune's wife, and he and Neptune are friends, that's all.

Shanks won't think about more things, and he doesn't want Uta to be confused by these things.

After saying that, Shanks gently rubbed Uta's head, his face full of tenderness and love.

However, his answer obviously did not satisfy Uta. From Uta's perspective, his answer was just like what an adult would say to a child: "You are still young, so don't think so much. When you grow up, you will Understood."

Precocious children will obviously not be satisfied with such perfunctory beatings.

However, Uta also saw that Shanks did not mean to give him a thorough explanation, and he had no intention of asking further. He pursed his lips and said somewhat unhappily:

"I don't want to become a mindless pirate who just has fun every day!"

Uta said, gently shook off Shanks' hand and quickened his pace.

"Hahahaha, run slower, Uta."

Shanks didn't expect that his daughter would react like this. After a brief daze, he laughed loudly. Looking at Uta running away, the doting look on Shanks's face did not diminish, and he quickened his pace. .

The red-haired pirate crew members around them all showed knowing smiles when they saw the interaction between the father and daughter.

The sky above Fish-Man Island is filled with red light, and it is almost dusk on land. The light emitted by the sun trees also makes the dusk scene of Fish-Man Island become dreamy and gorgeous.

"Ah sneeze——"

At the harbor of Fish-Man Island, Luffy, who was sitting on the bow of the boat fishing with a fishing rod with his two brothers, suddenly sneezed without warning. The sound caused Ace and Sabo, who were concentrating on fishing beside him, to People couldn't help but tremble and were startled.

"You guy, why are you making such a loud noise? You can't stand it for a while. The fish are scared away by you."

Ace glanced at Luffy beside him with some dissatisfaction, sighed, and then reeled in the fishing line. There was no bait on the hook, Ace's eyes twitched slightly, and he silently reeled in the fishing rod.

Zefa and the others were busy with business, and the three of them were ordered to stay on the boat.

The three bored people had been sitting there all day, not to mention being bored, even fishing was collectively empty-handed.

"The weather is getting a little cold, Luffy, you should put on a coat, don't catch a cold."

Sabo, the elder brother, has a completely different style from Ace. He looked up at the sky and said to Luffy beside him with concern.

"Cold? No."

"I've never caught a cold."

Luffy's physique is abnormal. He has never felt sick since he was a child. Well, when he was thrown into the woods by his grandfather to "survive in the wilderness", he was poisoned by poisonous fungi, but that was poisoning, not illness.

Luffy rubbed his nose and looked at the calm river surface nonchalantly.

After a long time, Luffy suddenly said:

"Chicken sauce is coming!"

His words made Ace and Sabo turn their heads and look over. The "Chicken sauce" in Luffy's mouth was Garp. Garp is coming to Fishman Island? How is it possible? Even if he comes, how does Luffy know?

"What are you talking about? Who is coming? Old man? He won't come."

Ace put away the fishing rod, lay on the deck, looked up at the red sky, picked his nose and laughed.

"He will come. Every time I sneeze, he will appear soon."

Luffy said in a somewhat metaphysical way. His naive words made Ace and Sabo laugh.

"Is the sneezing caused by someone talking about it?!"

"If that's the case, then I'm really miserable!"

Luffy's words touched some nerves of Sabo, and the smile on his face faded. After sighing in his heart, Sabo slowly reeled in the fishing line, put the fishing rod aside, and lay on the deck with his back to the sky like Ace.

Luffy didn't know why Ace and Sabo suddenly stopped fishing. For no reason, he followed suit, reeled in the fishing line, and lay on the deck like his two brothers.

The three of them lay quietly, looking at the gorgeous sky of Fishman Island.

The breeze blew, blowing the clothes of several people.

Luffy, who lay on the deck for a while, seemed to feel a little "uncomfortable". His little hands moved, holding the hands of Ace and Sabo respectively, feeling the warmth from his palms. Luffy suddenly felt a sense of peace in his heart, closed his eyes, and his little face was calm and peaceful.

After an unknown period of time, light footsteps came from the deck behind the three little ones.

After a busy day, Zefa returned to the boat and slowly came behind the three little ones. He did not mean to disturb them, but just sat down cross-legged.

After a long time, Ace and Sabo seemed to feel the breath behind them and opened their eyes.

At the same time, Zefa's voice also reached the ears of several people:

"The matter is basically done."

"The next period of time is the finishing work."

"This is the first time for you three to come to Fishman Island. I will take this opportunity to take you to have a good time on the island for a few days."

"It's been so many years, and I haven't given myself a vacation for a long time."